1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to holding devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a holder device particular suitable for holding, storing, carrying, and/or packaging non-rigid, flexible safety cones in a convenient and compact manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traffic marker devices such as safety cones are useful in alerting, informing, directing, or diverting motorists as well as pedestrians to avoid or pass safely around hazards, obstacles, work zones, and so on. Currently available safety cones can be generally divided into two main categories: rigid ones and non-rigid ones.
Rigid safety cones are well known in the art, an example of which is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,333,273. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,434 shows how rigid safety cones are deployed from a specially designed deployment vehicle. Conventional rigid safety cones are not particularly suitable for consumer applications because they are awkward to handle and/or carry around. Their weight, size and bulkiness in general make it difficult to transport and store, for example, in a trunk or cargo area of a vehicle. This problem worsens with an increase in the number of rigid safety cones that need to be held, carried around, or stored together in the trunk or any place where space is limited or minimal.
Non-rigid safety cones can be further divided into subcategories: collapsible ones that can be compressed in a substantially flat form, as exemplified in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,624, and a new generation of self-righting flexible ones disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,760, of which is issued to the same inventor and assigned to the same assignee of the present application.
Unlike rigid safety cones, non-rigid safety cones such as the collapsible signal device disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,624 can be compressed into a compact, substantially flat form, making them more suitable for individual use and storage. For example, a built-in hinged bar secures the collapsed, substantially flat signal device of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,624 under a hook fixed onto the base thereof. The collapsed device is then stowed in a separate storage case with a cover flap.
Other ways to stow, hold, carry, pack, and store collapsible safety cones exist, each of which is usually tailored to a specific design. For example, for carrying and storing the collapsible rocking road emergency warning sign of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,554, a separate top cover is latched onto the base of the warning sign via two clips. In another example, for carrying and storing the collapsible traffic warning sign of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,792, a circular recess on the base thereof is designed to receive the conical covering and spring of the warning sign in collapsed form and a separate case is designed to receive the collapsed warning sign.
A common trait in conventional collapsible safety cones is that they are structurally weakened by design to allow the overall height of the cone to be compressed or flattened. Another common trait is that they generally cannot self-right. Consequently, when confronted by an indirect or direct force, e.g., natural wind, passing traffic, or violence, collapsible safety cones are likely to fall over or collapse, thereby becoming a flying or lying object endangering following traffic and/or surrounding people. Moreover, conventional collapsible safety cones are not suitable for vehicular deployment. They are more suitable for individual use.
The above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,760 discloses a new generation of flexible safety cones that can be deployed and placed via a moving vehicle and can self-right upon deployment or perturbation. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,582, which is also issued to the same inventor and assigned to the same assignee of the present application, discloses a novel method and device for placing and deploying the self-righting flexible safety cones from a moving vehicle, which is minimally modified to implement the placing device.
For stowage and carriage, the self-righting flexible safety cones can be conveniently reduced to a compact size without compromising the structural integrity and resilience thereof. What is needed in the art, therefore, is a holder device that can secure one or more self-righting flexible safety cones in a reduced or otherwise minimized form so that they can be held, carried, packaged, stowed, and/or stored in a compact, convenient, and effortless manner. The present invention addresses this need.